Speaking of Yangzhou beauties, Yangzhou's famous "thin horse" can't be ignored. A common saying still circulating in Yangzhou is "Marry a horse and a horse", which means to marry a wife. This horse evolved from the word thin horse.

Yangzhou was the settlement of Huaibei, Huainan and Huaibei salt merchants in ancient times. Salt merchants were rich in those days and lived in luxury comparable to the royal family. Since the Ming Dynasty, a large number of specialized trainings have appeared in Yangzhou.

Young women who are trained and prepared to marry wealthy businessmen as concubines are slim and thin, so they are called "Yangzhou thin horses". Those poor families in Yangzhou city and surrounding rural areas have no food, no clothes and have to sell.

My own thin daughter, as a thin horse, spent that embarrassing and helpless day.

The "thin horse" was bought by Yangzhou people. After several years' training, we should first teach them to cope freely and behave dignified or elegant, and then teach them to learn calligraphy, painting, piano, chess, singing and dancing. Zhang Dalai, a Qing man, explained in Waiting for a Collection: Yangzhou people buy more girls from poor families and teach geisha to sell them as maids' concubines for as much as 1000 yuan, so they are called "thin horses".

There is an extremely strict appraisal procedure for selecting thin horses, and the most important thing for merchants is the evaluation of thin horse feet. There is also a set of very detailed methods to identify this "three-inch golden lotus", and people have also formulated seven standards, such as "fineness, smallness, sharpness, bending, fragrance, softness and integrity".

In Yangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, there were businessmen living around the "thin horse" industrial chain. They provide one-stop service from purchasing to training to finding buyers, holding weddings for thin horses. Historical records, bought from Yangzhou

The "thin horse", because of his formal education and skill, got the kitchen under the hall, was gentle, courteous and frugal, and rarely made other wives and concubines of his host family angry and not jealous, which made men very moved.

Rest assured. Some actually felt the benefits of Yangzhou's "thin horse" and went to Yangzhou to buy it again and again. At that time, it was not a shame to raise thin horses. Because thin horses are profitable, some businesses have also raised their age.

If a young woman meets a generous buyer, she will naturally make a fortune.

The beautiful women known as "thin horses" either followed the buyers to the vast world outside Yangzhou, or stayed in their hometown to find a suitable family to marry. But not all "thin horses" can successfully marry into the giants.

Go home. Finally, some of the remaining "thin horses" had to be sent to Yanhua Lane. On the Qinhuai River, most Yang Bang geisha were born with thin horses. And those who are "fortunate" to be accepted as concubines by rich children of government and business.

"Thin horse" does not necessarily live a happy life from now on. Some people say that Yangzhou thin horse is the history of blood and tears of Yangzhou beauty.